


The Other Side

by EclipseWing



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angel Dean Winchester, Angel Sam Winchester, Dean is badass, Dean pulls Castiel out of Hell, Gen, Hunter Castiel, Lucifer as Sam | Sam as Lucifer, Michael as Dean | Dean as Michael, Sam basically steals Anna's Heaven and Hell episode, Sam is hiding stuff, Sammael - Freeform, Season/Series 04, Siblings Anna and Castiel, reverse verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-10
Updated: 2014-02-18
Packaged: 2018-01-11 21:37:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1178204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EclipseWing/pseuds/EclipseWing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Castiel has no idea what pulled him out of Hell, but he knows that he doesn't expect Dean, or his puppy-dog eyed brother Sam (what sort of angel names were those anyway?) who happens to be on the run from the other angels.</p><p>He and Anna are expecting an Apocalypse, they're not expecting two angels with secrets and vague hints. Castiel has no idea what to do.</p><p>And why does everyone seem to think he knows Michael?</p><p>("Humans are such curious things,” the angel sounds amused.<br/>“I’m glad you find us entertaining,” Castiel turns around, and finding the angel too close, steps back. “Dean.” He warns.<br/>“Castiel,” the angel mocks, surprisingly sassy for a celestial being. "Named for the angel Cassiel. Cassie's nice enough, but she's far too nosy for her own good."<br/>“There really is an angel of Thursday?” he asks.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Castiel

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to try my own hand at a reverse verse but with a bit of a twist, as you'll later see.

**CASTIEL**

Castiel is rescued from Hell on a Thursday.

Later he thinks there is irony in that. He is named for the angel of Thursday after all.

He breaks through the earth a new man, drawing in air as if he is starved for it. The sunlight is too bright, and everything he touches overloads his senses, but for a moment he lies there, wallowing in the relief that he is free. Hell could never compare to this, as he staggers to his feet, legs unsteady and looks around at the small grave in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere.

The wooden cross is crooked, no name or date on the damp wood. It’s slightly charred and rotting already, the only marker to the grave. The pine box itself is only three feet down. It’s almost as if it was only a temporary measure, and it must be, because his body should have been salted and burnt, ashes scattered to the four winds.

He blinks, and it’s still too bright. Beyond the shallow grave, there is nothing of interest, just dried grass and fallen trees. The trunks are blown outwards, as if knocked over like dominoes. His gaze extends a bit further, head turning, and he can see where the forest starts, a perfect radius around, with him in the centre.

Castiel closes his eyes and tries to remember what happened. Everything is chaotic, the baying of hounds, the tearing of flesh, the feel of the knife and the burn of hell. He can’t distinguish events clearly, but he knows that he’s out, after however long it’s been. He’s out and he’s free and whatever pulled him out…

He casts a frantic glance around at the fallen trees.

He should get the hell out of there.

Anna really chose the most isolated place to bury him. There’s a road, gravel and broken tarmac and he walks along it for what feels like hours, in the heat of the day. He’s wearing the clothes he was in before he died, and except for a lighter, some old chewing gum and a small pen knife, he has nothing useful. Not even a few dollars change.

The convenience store is closed and he mutters apologies under his breath as he breaks in. The water soothes his throat, and he briefly reflects about how that is his first drink for possibly forty years. That’s when he spies the date on the newspaper and it feels like everything is crumbling, but being built back up. It’s only been four months.

Somewhere, Anna is still out there.

He is raiding the cash register when the TV statics into life with a buzz. He pauses, staring at it, and switches it off. Seconds later the radio jumps to life.

The air in vibrating now as he grabs the salt, barely having time to throw it at the windows before the glass breaks, a high pitched whining that makes his wince, and clap his hands over his ears, seconds before it stops and he’s crouched there, in amongst the broken glass wondering what the hell just happened.

The only clue to how he came to be topside is a handprint burned into his shoulder (it feels like it’s burned into his bones). It’s raw, and he tries to soothe it with a damp cloth later, once Bobby’s convinced he’s not a demon and they’re attempting to track Anna’s phone. The whole shoulder is radiating heat, and he winces, pressing down gently on the inflamed skin.

“So where is she?” he asks, looking up as Bobby approaches.

The old man is about to reel off an address but he pauses, staring at the handprint. “Jesus boy… something just up and yanked you out of there, didn’t it?”

“We’ll find out what,” Castiel says. “Just as soon as we find Anna…”

Anna’s changed since he last saw her. Her red hair hangs loose and she keeps looking over her shoulder, as if expecting someone to be there. Castiel hasn’t seen Brady yet, and hopes the demon is still down in Hell.

“But how did you get out?” she whispers, clinging tightly to him.

It’s the question everyone wants to know and he doesn’t know the answer to. He visits a psychic to find out more about the creature that raised him.

Pamela grins, flirting with him and he feels uncomfortable, settling at the table and rolling up his sleeves. She too, whistles at the handprint, but lays one hand on the inflamed mark.

Her eyes close and Castiel can almost feel the temperature drop, if not for his blazing arm. Pamela’s head rolls, as if looking for something. “There you are…” she breathes. “No, no… don’t turn away. Let get a look at you. What’s your name?” She hums and then stops, frowning at the creature they can’t sense. “You’re a shy one, aren’t you? How about a glimpse then? Just a little… don’t be stupid… I’ll be fine. A little peek…” she stops talking, throwing back her head with a scream, and Castiel wrenches his hand back as her eyes flare with fire and light.

She never sees again.

“What the hell can burn out someone’s eyes?” Bobby asks.

The barn is covered with symbols from every culture and religion and myth when they summon the creature. They don’t even have a name to invoke, but something turns up anyway, with shaking iron and the flickering of lights. The doors crack open and Castiel braces himself, wondering if he should have got Anna to help him.

The thing looks human.

Most monsters do.

He’s tall. Well-built too. And very, very tall.

He stalks forwards, shoulders hunched slightly into himself as he glances around with interest at the symbols on the walls, even though they do nothing. He walks straight through the devil’s trap without even blinking.

Castiel shoots him in the chest with his salt filled shotgun. It doesn’t do anything and he waves a hand, his shotgun thrown to one side. The being looks slightly annoyed, examining his torn plaid shirt, and that’s when Castiel slams the knife into him.

The tall man winces, but pulls it out, casting it a scornful glance and dropping it. Castiel staggers back a few steps in shock. “Who are you?” he gasps out, as the being perches on the edge of the desk, silently watching him.

Bobby lunges and the tall guy clicks his fingers. The older man falls to the floor.

“He’s just sleeping,” the guys says quietly. “This isn’t for him to hear.”

Castiel shoots him a look filled with as much emotion as he could.

“My name is Sammael.” The guy says, “I’m an angel.”

Castiel’s mother used to believe in angels before she died. His father too was a religious man. Yet in all his years of hunting down demons, never once had he believed in angels. Anna’s real name is Anael. Not that she’ll ever let anyone call her that.

“Why did you pull me out of Hell?” it’s the one thing he needs to know. Why him?

The guy quirks his lips “I didn’t.” he says. “You’ll have to ask my brother. He’s the one who pulled you out.”

“Where is he?”

“Busy. He sent me instead to keep an eye on you. Check you don’t die on us again.”

“Why am I here?”

Sammael looks at him, and Castiel wonders if the guy really is an angel, if angels are real and if this is really happening. “Good things do happen.” Castiel wonders what a load of crap that is and as if in response the ‘angel’ shrugs. “Sometimes at least. Your part to play is up here. You are more use to us up on Earth.”

“Use to you? To do what?” Castiel shakes his head.

The angel pauses. “Think of it as a sort of apology,” He says eventually, and when Castiel starts towards him in frustration as his cryptic words, there is a flutter of wings and Sammael is gone. Vanished.

According to the lore, Sammael is a fallen angel who served Lucifer. He was the angel of death who killed all the firstborns in Egypt. It doesn’t bode well for them.

Seals start to crack and break, as if a domino has been knocked over. Castiel has this nagging suspicion that this was all because of him.

The witnesses are barely settled and they’re cleaning up Bobby’s room when Castiel walks through to the kitchen to find Sammael lounging there. Bobby who is following him, almost shoots the tall angel with rock salt again, but just like last time the gun is wrenched from his hands.

“Friendly lot aren’t they?”

Castiel looks to the side where another guy stands. Short hair and green eyes. “You pulled me out.” He says. It isn’t a question.

“Told you he was insistent,” Sammael smirks.

“So you were right. Nice job Sammy,” the taller angel shifts at the nickname, eyes narrowing into a face of annoyance. New angel turns to Castiel and Bobby. “Name’s Dean.” He says. “We needed your help.”

“What kind of a name is Dean?” Bobby scoffs. “Some angel you are.”

The pair looks as if they have a private joke between them, sharing a glance. “Nice job with the witnesses.”

“Where were you?” Castiel threatened. “Is this one of the sixty-six seals?”

Sam shifts, and for a moment he looks eager, but then it is gone and the grin is just wry, and not happy. “Yes,” he says. “The demons are breaking the sixty-six seals. Lilith is orchestrating it.”

“What happens when they all break?” Bobby asks the final question.

“Apocalypse,” The angel called ‘Dean’ shrugs. “End of Times.” He grins, “Lucifer walks the Earth.”

Sammael shifts again, “Lucifer was bound in a cage, containing seals. You might think of them like a lock on a door. When they break, he is free.” There is a note of wonder in his voice. Dean casts the taller angel a look of amusement.

“What do you want us to do?” Castiel feels hopeless, because surely there are people better suited to this task than he is.

“Look out for your sister,” Dean warns. Then they are gone. Castiel knows no more what he has to do now than he did before, but the angel is right. He catches Anna with her hand outstretched, choking a demon. Brady is sneaking around her like a snake whispering in her ears. Castiel sends him away and Anna repents. He wants to be angry but he did this to her, by bringing her back when he found her cold dead body in Cold Oak.

He had promised his brother that he’d protect her where Balthazar had failed.

“Not bad.” He doesn’t jump when Dean appears behind him. “You’ve got courage. Nice job with Samhain.”

“What do you want?” he grinds out.

“Humans are such curious things,” the angel sounds amused.

“I’m glad you find us entertaining,” Castiel turns around, and finding the angel too close, steps back. “Dean.” He warns.

“Castiel,” the angel mocks, surprisingly sassy for a celestial being. "Named for the angel Cassiel. Cassie's nice enough, but she's far too nosy for her own good."

“There really is an angel of Thursday?” he asks.

Dean hums an agreement. “Look after yourself.” He says. “Things aren’t going to be easy, but we need you to stay strong.”

“Why aren’t you doing more?” he asks in frustration. “You’re angels, aren’t you?”

“Don’t say things like that,” Dean’s voice is cold. “Six of my brothers and sisters died this past week.”

Castiel snorts. “But you just keep on following orders, like a good little hammer.”

“I’m not a tool,” the angel growls. “We might not be human, but we have our own thoughts and emotions.”

“Thank you,” Castiel finally gets to the root of his problem. “For not destroying the town. Even though Uriel wanted to.”

Dean shrugs. “That’s Uriel for you.”

“Where’s Sammael?”

The blonde looks shifty. “Around,” he says evasively. “Do me a favour and don’t mention Sammy to the others, will ya’?”

And Castiel looks to the angel, who is the most un-angelic being he’s ever met, who nicknames his brother like a twelve year old, has a penchant for stealing Castiel’s pie and making obscure references even he hasn’t heard of and seems to have some grand plan for Castiel, that he himself has no clue about.

But this is the being who dragged him out of hell and whose handprint is burned onto his shoulder. “Okay,” he agrees, but when he looks up to green eyes, the angel is gone, leaving him sitting alone, on a park bench.


	2. Sammael

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel's still trying to get used to the concept of angels when his sister's pet demon comes to them with tales of someone the demons are after.  
> He doesn't expect to find Dean and Sam there already.
> 
> (The new angel pauses, glancing at Dean. “You saw Sammael?” she asks, and Castiel tries to pretend he did not just hear that.  
> Dean ignores her, and raises one hand glowing white towards Alistair, and the demon is gone before he can finish with the smiting. All that is left for the new angel to round on him, eyes blazing.  
> “Where is he?” she hisses.  
> “Around.” Dean’s lips twitch. “Nice to see you too Jo.”  
> “It’s Jophiel,” she corrects. “And I’m here to drag your sorry ass back to Heaven.")

**SAMMAEL**

“What’s he doing here?” Castiel glares at Brady, who is sitting on his motel bed.

The demon looks uncomfortably but looks instead to his little sister. “The demons are looking for something,” he says. “Something big. Or someone. They’ve been tracking him down and seem to think that he holds all the secrets to this war.”

“Okay,” Anna nods, as if the decision has already been made.

“What?” Castiel looks alarmed, “What do you want us to do?”

“We get to this guy first. Protect him.” Anna says determinedly. “We can’t let Hell get their hands on him.”

Castiel sighs, because he knows he’s lost. “Alright.” He sighs, still glaring at Brady. “Where do we look?”

It’s a long journey south to Kansas. “Who is the guy?” he asks Brady, who is sitting in the back seat.

The black-eye shrugs awkwardly. “All I know is that his haunt is this church in Lawrence. That and the demons hate this guy bad enough to want him dead.”

The church has been closed for six months due to repairs and they sneak in easily enough. The stain glass window is cracked and the pews askew. There are shadows at the far end as Castiel and Anna move forwards, Brady trailing behind.

The low voices get louder and Castiel raises his shotgun. “Hello?” he calls.

The two shapes pause and one lurches forwards, and Castiel freezes at the green eyes and crew cut hair. “Dean?” he frowns.

Dean’s gaze goes straight to where Brady is hiding behind Anna. “You’re got a demon with you,” he sneers.

The shape behind the angel shifts into sight, and Castiel recognises Sammael. “What are you doing here?” the taller angel looks wary, spotting the demon and frowning. “What is _he_ doing here?”

“We…” Anna looks around, uneasily. “We’re here to protect someone. Someone that Hell wants really badly.”

The two angels don’t react, and that’s when Castiel sees that Dean’s hand is bleeding. He didn’t know that angels bled, and he moves forwards, and as he turns the corner he sees sigils drawn on the walls with blood. “Have you been warding this place? Is the person here?”

“There are demons coming,” Anna adds. “Soon.”

Castiel wishes that she’d kept her mouth shut when the door bursts open and Alistair strides in. Castiel hasn’t even seen the white eyes, but he knows who it is. The demon sends a chill down Castiel’s spine which he can never forget, never will forget as long as he lives.

“Nice party,” the demon sneers, eyes flashing white as he spots the two angels.

“Go,” Dean snaps at Sam, stalking forwards, and his green eyes are glowing almost gold. He half turns to make a shoo-ing motion and with a flutter of wings, Sam vanishes, looking hurried and annoyed in one expression. Cas didn’t think it was possible to pull it off in one expression, but somehow Sam managed, seconds before he was gone.

Alistair doesn’t flinch as Dean turns to face him fully. The angel’s eyes have gone from hazel green to an almost molten gold as he steps forwards. “Well look who came off his cloud to play,” he grins, but the grin drops a second later when another angel steps into view, blonde hair and female.

“Glad I didn’t miss the game,” the small woman smirks, a silver sword appearing in her hand.

“Now, now…” Alistair steps backwards, eyes narrowing as his gaze drifts over Castiel and Anna. “I just wanted to chat with that brother of yours.”

The new angel pauses, glancing at Dean. “You saw Sammael?” she asks, and Castiel tries to pretend he did not just hear that.

Dean ignores her, and raises one hand glowing white towards Alistair, and the demon is gone before he can finish with the smiting. All that is left for the new angel to round on him, eyes blazing.

“Where is he?” she hisses.

“Around.” Dean’s lips twitch. “Nice to see you too Jo.”

“It’s Jophiel,” she corrects. “And I’m here to drag your sorry ass back to Heaven. What are you doing here hanging around with that traitor and those mud monkeys? Seals are breaking and you’re down here doing what exactly Mic-”

“Go back to Heaven,” Dean says, and Castiel realises he’s commanding her, and she slips to attention as if she’s been trained to obey his every order. “And tell Raphael to leave me alone. Got it?”

“He’s not going to be happy.” Jo responds. “We’ve been looking for Sammael for months, and now we find out you’ve been sheltering the traitor…”

“Do I look as if I care?” he growls, and she looks terrified, swallowing and stepping backwards.

A flutter of wings and she is gone.

“What the hell was that?” Castiel snarls, moving towards the angel, and trying to forget the white light streaming from his hand, the glowing eyes and the shimmer in the air that could have been wings. “Are you saying that the person we were here to find is Sam?”

Castiel wonders when the angelic beings became Dean and Sam as if they were human.

“It’s none of your business,” Dean ignores him; “You shouldn’t even be here. Leave.”

“Not until I get answers!”

“According to the lore,” Anna interjects, “Sammael is a fallen angel. He fell with Lucifer. Does that mean he’s on the other side?”

“But then why are the demons hunting him?” Brady pointed out, falling silent when Castiel and Dean turn to glare at him.

“If you know what’s good for you,” Dean says stiffly. “You’ll leave this alone.”

“If he’s going to be hanging around with us…” Castiel bites back, “We deserve to know what’s going on.”

Dean laughs, cold and bitter; “You’re just curious. Don’t get killed little cat,” and then he is gone in a flutter of wings.

“I hate it when he does that.”

Now they are left with more questions and no answers, and Alistair is still around. It makes something in Castiel’s blood twist and scream until he’s tapping his fingers with nervous energy. Anna watches him with narrow eyes, because he’s never nervous - he’s always the picture of perfect calm.

“I don’t like this,” Brady stares at the sigils on the wall. “I don’t.”

“Shut up.” Castiel snaps.

“He’s right,” Castiel hates it when Anna agrees with the demon against him. “If Sammael is a fallen angel then he’s working against us. He’s helping the seals to break. And that means like it or not, Dean might not be on the right side either.”

“Then why did he pull me out of hell?” Castiel growls, fists clenching. “Look, I trust him okay? I’ll call him and ask him…”

“You don’t even know his real name!” Brady sneers. “You really think he’s called ‘Dean’? What angel do you know called Dean? He could be another of Lucifer’s followers!”

“And that demon? You recognised him, didn’t you?” Anna accuses him, and the focus shifts to him.

“He’s a white eye, like Lilith. He’s a nasty piece of work,” Castiel shrugs, nonchalantly, but he sees Anna’s eyebrows rise at his avoidance. “Look, either way they’re not going to come back here.”

Anna opens her mouth, but whether to agree or disagree is uncertain, for at that moment there is the flutter of wings and Dean stalks past, casting them a sideways glance with narrowed eyes at the demon still with them.

“If your pet wants out he’s going to have to go now. I’m sealing the church,” Dean snaps.

“Where’s Sammael?”

Dean ignores him.

“What are you doing?”

The angel pulls a piece of chalk from his pocket and inscribes a symbol on the brick by the door.

“Dean!” Castiel snarls, stepping forwards. The angel doesn’t even look around.

“What?” his voice is flat and monotone.

“What’s going on here?” The human demands.

“We’re setting up a trap,” he says. “Right Jo?”

“It’s Jophiel,” and only then do Anna and Cass see the blonde slouching in one of the pews, reading some hymns. “Honestly, why you see the need to go to this much trouble for that double-crossing devil M…”

“You don’t get to pass judgement,” Dean rounds on her, “Remember your place Jophiel.” And the female angel actual quivers under his gaze, ducking her head respectfully.

“Your little pet humans should stay back,” she mumbled, glancing at them, “And their toy.” She added, sniffing at Brady. “Abomination,” she snarled under her breath, before stalking back towards the sigils drawn earlier. “How exactly do you plan to get him here?”

Castiel wonders for a moment if they are still referring to Sammael when Dean turns green eyes towards them, focussing on his unnervingly. “Bait.” He utters, and Castiel realises they aren’t talking about Sammael, the moment Jophiel changes the sigils, and the moment the pair vanish, leaving two humans and a demon alone and defenceless, but for the knife.

Anna shifts expectantly, and for one sick moment Castiel wonders if she’s going to use her powers in this upcoming skirmish, but then she looks towards him and relaxes, and he’s relieved he’s got the message through to her.

“You’re looking rather… alone…” He spins around to see Alistair sneering at them. “Where’s the God Squad? Better things to do than babysit?” he laughs and Castiel steps back in alarm, and the demon’s eyes slide to white. Footsteps behind him signal several more demons appearing.

“Your new friends suck,” Anna whispers furiously at him, and Brady vanishes out of there in alarm.

“Like your boyfriend is much better,” Castiel whispers back.

“Oh Cassie,” Alistair laughs, “You know I’ve missed you… missed you so much…”

“What does he mean?” Anna looks to him for answers he can’t give. Alistair can though.

“Didn’t brother dearest tell you? After all, we got so well acquainted down in the pit,” he laughs again and then his eyes widen, sliding back to normal in alarm at the flutter of wings.

Two screams behind him as the demons die, Jo’s palms pressed to their heads. Dean is right by Alistair, with a silver blade out, lashing towards the demon. Alistair ducks away, but a second later Dean pushes forwards, a hand grabbing the demon around his throat and pushing him back against a wall. The silver sword rests at the white-eye’s throat and Dean leans forwards to whisper something in his ear, before pressing his palm to Alistair’s forehead.

“Shut your eyes!” he calls to Castiel and Anna, as the room flares white with angelic grace. The demon screams, but Castiel neither hears nor sees it, in the blinding light.

He blinks back his sight to Jo brushing her hands off and looking at Dean with a mix of wonder and fear in her eyes. “Well at least you get things done properly and not a half-hearted mess like Gabriel used to do.”

“Don’t talk about Gabriel,” Dean snaps, and moves towards Castiel and Anna. “Are you two okay?”

“And it’s my turn to go,” Jo looks disgusted by his concern for them. “I guess I have to make something up to Raphael again?” she asks.

“That would be great, thanks,” Dean waves her off, and she pouts at him, before vanishing in a flicker of wings. “Sorry about Jo,” he grins, lopsided smile. “She’s my second in command and prissy as anything.”

“What was that?” Castiel’s voice is calm, but hiding anger. “First we’re looking for a person of interest to demons, the next thing we know Sam is wanted by heaven and hell, and then you use us as bait for Alistair.”

“Well I’ll admit that the last wasn’t planned.” Dean shrugs. “But thanks for the help.”

“He’s dead?”

“Not even pushing up daisies!” the angel sounds proud. Castiel relaxes slightly at this revelation.

“But Sam?” he presses.

“He’s a fallen angel isn’t he?” Anna asks.

Dean’s lips thin. “I hate it when you put it like that,” he mutters.

“He works for Lucifer?”

A quirk of Dean’s lips and a shake of his head. “He repented,” Castiel almost didn’t hear the whisper. “He repented. He changed his mind but the others… they wouldn’t let him back. The gates were closed to him.”

Castiel notes how Dean never actually answered his question.

“Why do you help him then? Shouldn’t he be your enemy?”

Dean doesn’t say anything, jaws clenching. “He had nowhere to go. So he… I helped him stay on earth, even though it was forbidden. I thought he would be safe, under the limelight, but now with the seals… they picked up on the fact he was here. And so Sammy’s now running from the angels who want him dead for switching sides, and the demons who want him dead for switching sides again.”

“But if he fought with Lucifer…”

“Shut up,” Dean snapped, eyes flashing gold. “You don’t know anything,” he spun around, stalking away. “He’s my brother. I couldn’t… I couldn’t just leave him there…” he stopped talking, voice this.

“He’s a traitor to both sides,” Anna whispers.

“But he’s still your brother,” Castiel says to Dean’s back.

“Yes,” Dean says, not turning.

“Anna is still my sister,” and he can see her wide eyes at the admission, “No matter what.”

There is a flutter of wings and Dean is gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jo is in this chapter, totally being a badass angel who tells Dean off. Sam, if you noticed, also stole Anna's Heaven and Hell episodes, while Anna has taken his place as the demon blood kid.
> 
> It's easy to make Sam an angel name, since there's Samkiel and Samael already, but Dean's pretty hard. He does actually have an angel name though (then again the tags probably give it away).


	3. Anael

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna knows the demon blood is wrong, but she sees no other option here.  
> Lilith has to die. Lucifer can't rise.  
> And she has to be the one to do it, no matter what her brother's pet angels say.
> 
> (“So what?” Cas frowns, “No ‘please’ ‘thank you’ ‘how have you been…’?” he’s pissed, Anna realises, because he hasn’t seen Dean in months.  
> The angel doesn’t even acknowledge this, “I’m not your pet,” he sneers, and for a moment Anna realises that their sort of friend isn’t exactly human. “I don’t take orders from you, and I certainly don’t bow to your beck and call.” There is something empty about Dean now, and Castiel steps back in alarm.  
> Jophiel just sadly shakes her head, staring at her boss, and then the pair are gone, in a flutter of wings.)

**ANAEL**

The demon blood is like a drug.

And like a true addict, she can’t stop. She’s screaming out silently to Castiel to help her, but he turns away, buried in his own troubles. She’s alone in this.

So she begins to push him away, she pushes away anybody who is close to her. Even Brady gets the hard shoulder, except when she craves the blood, and then he’s anything she needs him to be. Her fuck buddy, her boyfriend, her solid pillar of support (because Castiel isn’t). She wishes he wasn’t a demon, but she sees the way that Castiel has grown reliant on Dean, the angel always there to vanish away the nightmares.

Except when he’s not.

She hasn’t seen the angel for a while. Not since the incident with Sammael and Alistair. Castiel slept easier at night, the white eye that hurt him so dead, but after a month or so the nightmares return.

Dean doesn’t.

They are losing seals fast, floundering and helpless and it seems like even the angel patrol is giving up. Jophiel takes to trying to drop seals on them, as if they were just another job, and when she’s not around, Anna spots Sam, stalking the shadows. He always looks like he wants to approach them, but he stays away.

For now.

Castiel finds Jophiel lounging on his bed one day. “I don’t understand what he sees in you,” she gazes at him unblinking. “He spends more time down here with you than he should in Heaven.”

“Maybe he’s sick and tired of you guys,” Castiel suggests. “Where is he anyway?” he asks.

There’s that moment the angel has to wonder who he’s referring to, which tells Cass that ‘Dean’ isn’t the angel’s real name. Then the angel is all smiles and shrugs. “He’s had some trouble up in Heaven. Nothing he can’t handle but his… co-workers are getting pretty insistent.” Jophiel considers him. “You know he left you down there,” she said, smiling slightly. “We left you down in Hell until you broke the first seal.”

“What?” Castiel’s world is crashing down, all the illusions he put up.

“You were the first seal. As a righteous man sheds blood in hell, so shall it break. We know what you did.”

“I had no choice.”

“Lucifer is our brother too.” And then she is gone, and Castiel is cold.

It doesn’t make sense, because if the angels wanted him to break the seal, then why did they pull him out after it was broken? Why did they want the seals broken in the first place? There are so many questions and no answers.

Anna runs into Ruby almost accidently. They have a hunt in one of their old schools, and she runs into her old friend, quite literally. Ruby is all smiles and charm, but Anna senses something different around her, and it makes her feel sick and hungry and craving demon blood.

It’s only later when Brady turns up with some fresh blood for her that she realises why, because Brady smells the same, sulphur and iron and metallic and when she sees Ruby again the next day and offers her a drink of water, the girl chokes, and her eyes flash back.

“How long,” she gasps out, “How long have you been a demon?”

Ruby straightens, brushing brown hair out of her eyes and Anna remembers when it was died blonde. “Long enough,” she smirks. “I just had to keep an eye on you, for old yella’ eyes. You understand that right?”

Anna can’t, doesn’t want to understand, and Castiel slams the knife into Ruby for her, because she can’t do it. She thought the girl was her friend, and now it turns out she was a demon, put there to engineer her, to manipulate her. She feels sick.

“It’s not all bad, you know?” Sammael leans against their motel door, looking pensieve. Castiel raises the knife threateningly at him.

“What do you want?” he threatens, always so protective.

Sam looks sad and he raises his hands, palms out in a surrender motion. “I mean you no harm.”

“How do we know that?” Anna challenges. “How do we know you and Dean aren’t off breaking seals in your free time?”

Sam lets out a breath, tensions easing from his shoulders. “Why…” he begins, “Would we want your brother out of hell if only to inhibit our own plan?”

“Why do you want me out of hell in the first place?” Castiel challenges. “I haven’t exactly been a great help in stopping Lilith.”

And that’s what it comes down to really, stopping Lilith. That is Anna’s task though, because Castiel isn’t strong enough. Lilith killed him, and so she will kill Lilith. That’s her goal, her reason for everything: the blood, the lies, the sneaking around.

She had almost forgotten that.

Castiel doesn’t understand. He can’t. He doesn’t know what it’s like, being on the wrong side, and having to use the darkness for good. He just wants his innocent little sister back, but she’s gone and grown up on him. She just wants him to support her, but he’s running off with angels to talk to. He doesn’t say anything to her about hell, even though she knows it’s killing him.

Sam sighs, running a hand through his hair. “It wasn’t meant to go like this,” he tells them eagerly. He waves a hand about, “All of this… is wrong.” He shrugs. “We usually pull the innocent souls in hell to heaven anyway,” he adds, slightly uneasy about something, “It’s the policy we agreed upon… but you, Castiel… you were more good alive than dead.”

Castiel isn’t much use to anyone, Anna thinks, but doesn’t say anything. It’s in the back of her mind though, and she barely even realises it until the siren pulls it out and throws it at Castiel like a weapon.

She hates that she can see how deeply it cuts him.

Their family is disjointed and screwed up. A guys phones up, claiming to be their cousin, and they go to meet him. He’s a smart sassy blonde with a British accent called Balthazar. Anna never really knew her family that well. Their parents died when they were young: Inias and Hester, and to find out their father had a sister named Rachael is news to them, and apparently Balthazar too.

“So on her death bed with that stupid Celine Dion song playing in the background, she tells me she had a little brother and apparently Uncle Inias went off and had kids, so I tracked you two down…”

He just as easily manages to untrack them down, and probably lose their phone number after he almost gets a piano dropped on him by one of the pissed off Fate sisters. Balthazar was already a hunter, but with angels and demons and fate stalking the Milton’s, he stays the fuck away from them.

“Don’t lose your paradise!” he jokes, but Anna glances sideways at her brother, and wonders if she already has, throwing away Eden to go playing games with the snake.

Her brother meanwhile, is trying to woo the angel guarding the gates. Or maybe not woo, but she’s not sure what else he is trying to do when Dean and Jophiel show up, and Castiel asks for help.

There’s something different about Dean. The blonde stares right through them both and shakes his head. It seems like he is made of stone.

“We need you to help save this seal,” he tells them, “Someone is trying to sacrifice reapers.”

“Why can’t you do it?” Cas stares at Dean, and the angel looks straight through his gaze with a thousand mile stare.

“It’s warded against us,” Dean responds, coolly.

“So what?” Cas frowns, “No ‘please’ ‘thank you’ ‘how have you been…’?” he’s pissed, Anna realises, because he hasn’t seen Dean in months.

The angel doesn’t even acknowledge this, “I’m not your pet,” he sneers, and for a moment Anna realises that their sort of friend isn’t exactly human. “I don’t take orders from you, and I certainly don’t bow to your beck and call.” There is something empty about Dean now, and Castiel steps back in alarm.

Jophiel just sadly shakes her head, staring at her boss, and then the pair are gone, in a flutter of wings.

Dean is the same apparently, when he forces Castiel to pick. “You either stop her or we do,” Castiel repeats. “He says that they are prepared to throw me back into hell. Anna…”  
“No,” she’s had enough. “I’m killing Lilith now, before she can break any more seals.”

Castiel doesn’t even have the heart left to fight her as she storms out.

Later Castiel will tell her how he was abducted by Zachariah. Later he will explain how Jophiel and Dean lounged around the other angel, above him in rank but seemingly unable to argue against anything the seraph did. Later Cas will explain how they left him there, and how he eventually managed to speak to Dean, and how Dean looked torn and confused and for a single moment, downright terrified.

“Nothing is going to plan,” he whispers. “I’m sorry Castiel, for putting you through this.” And Castiel will tell her how he just has to snap his fingers when Zachariah next appears, to send off the other angel somewhere. About how Jophiel just sighed and shook her head and took Cas straight to the church when Dean asked her to, and then left him there.

“Nothing you do will change anything,” she had told him. “It’s already set in motion.”

Anna only knows that she is killing Lilith, has her pinned to the floor, when she hears footsteps above the pounding of her own heart.

“No!” Castiel slams against the door and Anna spins around.

“Kill her!” Brady encourages, “Now!”

“Anna!” she hears Cas cry out. “Don’t! She’s the seal! She’s the seal.”

And they say that pride comes before the fall, but here any pride Anna might have, at doing this by herself, at achieving this, it falls down with her as she shakes her head. “He’s my brother,” she mumbles, and lurches towards the door, and it opens as she gets there.

Castiel staggers in. “Lilith’s the seal,” he grabs her shoulders. “Don’t kill her - she’s the seal! The final seal!”

“What?” Anna is numb, high with the blood coursing through her, but she doesn’t want to be, because this wasn’t how she envisioned this going.

“Kill her!” Brady cries, moments before Anna spins around angrily at the lying bastard and flings out one hand. He chokes once before flashing gold inside, and he dies without a struggle.

“Liar.” Anna whispers, wondering how she almost trusted that demon over her own brother. “I kill Lilith… like you’d been planning on… I’d have freed Lucifer…”

Where she sits at the altar, Lilith laughs, “Free him! We don’t need to free him! He’s already out…”

The siblings spin around, eyes wide. “But the seals…” Castiel shakes his head, “The seals open his cage.”

“The seals open up hell,” she sneers. “It’s tradition. We release the horsemen, the fallen angels from the pit…” she gestures to the stone floor, “Some of the more famous demons… it’s just protocol really.”

“What does killing you achieve?” Castiel looks bemused. “Lucifer…?”

“Conquest,” the white eye chuckles “You win over me and Conquest rides free, and my father will win.”

“But then…” Anna looks frantic. “It’s over. Even if the horseman isn’t out, Lucifer is. He… he is bringing the apocalypse as we speak.”

“Or he’s running around with his brother,” the white eye looks like a scorned lover.

“What?” They move back towards the door, wanting to get out, to escape, because really what hope did they have anymore. It was the end of the world.

“Oh you didn’t know?” she laughs cruelly, eyes sliding up white. “Before Lucifer fell, his name was Sammael.”


	4. Michael

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Michael,” Zachariah spits, “Where is he?”  
> So it turns out that they've been buddy buddy with Lucifer for most of the past year, yet somehow the Apocalypse is not being set in motion. That should be a good thing, right?  
> But why does everyone seem to think that Castiel knows where Michael is?
> 
> (Sam shrugs, “No idea. Why? You guys looking for him?” he whistles, “No wonder he’s hiding. So would I if you guys were looking for me.” A flash of silver by his side is a sword and the Uriel steps forwards angrily, “What?” he smiles, deceptively calm. “Going to threaten me?”  
> “You know where he is,” Uriel looks nervous. “What have you done to him? What lies have you used to deceive him Lucifer…?”  
> Castiel can see that he’s said the wrong thing. “My name,” Sam growls, “Is Sammael,” and he clicks his fingers, suddenly all anger and hate and with one sound Uriel is ripped apart into bloody chunks. “You never got over your demotion, did you?” he sighed, “And you?” he asks Zach, nonchalantly; “It’s been a while since I’ve smited anything…” the angel is gone before he can finish.)

**MICHAEL**

Chuck, as a writer, is used to being drunk out of his mind, and to spending long nights in front of a too bright screen unable to sleep.

He isn’t used to three people showing up out of the blue, the one person, a lithe blonde woman chiding the other two as if they were children, before vanishing away in a flutter of wing beats.

“Who are you?” he asks, but in his heart, he already knows the answer.

“Castiel. This is my sister - Anna.”

Both look shell-shocked and Chuck is torn between shouting denials at them, and making them a cup of coffee. He decides the former is dangerous to his own health, and so points them to the couch.

“My name is Chuck,” he says instead. “And I think I’m a prophet. At least… I think I am, because you’re in my dreams, and I’ve been writing them down, and you guys just came from the church right?”

Both don’t say anything, but Castiel’s eyes have drifted closed.

He’s praying. For Dean, asking, questioning, pleading, and mentally shouting.

_I trusted you._

He trusted Sam too to an extent, and to find out now that both were lying to him…

“Do you think Dean and Jophiel and Uriel and Zachariah are all fallen angels?” he asks Anna numbly. “That the seals… they were just releasing them all? And when I… when I broke the first seal… Dean decided to pull me out of hell as thanks?”

Chuck shoves the coffee in front of him and he drinks it, ignoring the way it scalds his tongue. “They were helping you though?” the man prompts. “At least… it seemed like they were.”

“And Jo and Zach genuinely seem like holy angels of Heaven,” Anna mumbles, shivering from any after effect of the demon blood. Castiel wants to be disgusted but can’t summon up the energy. “Even Dean did, if it wasn’t for his boring name.”

Chuck frowns at them, because he feels like he should know the next plot point, but he doesn’t. “You should go to Bobby’s,” he says. “Look for a way to sort this mess out.”

The pair of siblings are so down they just numbly obey, just as they were used to obeying Joshua at the orphanage. Chuck sighs into his own coffee and glances at his computer, thinking about the words un-typed.

“Sammael is Lucifer,” is how Castiel greets Bobby. “Lilith might still be alive, but she’s not our problem.”

“No.” Bobby smiles, and next to Castiel, his sister freezes, “At the moment, it’s really not.” And that’s when their friend’s eyes slide black.

Anna automatically seems to stretch out her hand, but the demon inside Bobby just laughs. “You’re all out of juice,” he sneers, “Nice try though. I’d like to introduce you to a friend…” his shoulders roll as the front door opens.

“Brady?” Castiel wonders, the same moment Anna asks, “Ruby?”

The demon laughs. “Guess again.”

“Meg,” Castiel grinds out.

“Hello Clarence. I missed you. Did you miss me?”

“Sure thing sweetheart,” Dean’s easy tones break the silence and Castiel looks wildly for the angel, as he strides up to Bobby first, and for a moment Cas thinks the old hunter will lose his eyes, but there is a flash of red gold and Bobby drops, chest heaving, eyes intact.

“You’re Azazel’s daughter, right?” Dean ignores Anna and Castiel, stalking towards Meg. She doesn’t flinch.

“That’s right,” she juts out her chin as Dean stops right in front of her, hand reaching out to trace her jawline. “And now Lucifer is back, I work for him.”

Castiel gasps in shock as Dean just hums in agreement. “Go do something useful then, darling,” he drawls. “Go and look for the horsemen will you? We lost them to the carnal pleasures a while back.”

Meg smiles thinly at him. “I don’t answer to you,” she sneers.

Dean tilts his head in that stupid angel manner of his. “Don’t you?” and for a moment Cas could have sworn his eyes flashed gold, and it makes him feel slightly sick at the thought of yellow eyes, gold eyes (was there really much difference?)

Meg is gone though, when he blinks and Dean turns around to them, face grave. “I’m sorry,” he says simply. “For deceiving you... We… you don’t need to worry about anything. We’ve got it under control.”

“You and Lucifer..?” Anna sneers. “Burning down the world together?”

Dean is silent, jaw clenching as he just shakes his head. “We’re looking for our father,” he admits, being cagey about everything to do with Sammael and Lucifer and Apocalypse nowish.

“Who..?”

“God,” he specifies.

“You mean… there is no God?” Anna bites her lip, actually looks shocked. Castiel’s hands clench from where he checks Bobby’s pulse, because a part of him already knew this, ever since his parents died, were killed by demons when he was nine…

“He… I think he has abandoned us. Jophiel think I’m stupid, looking but I can’t hope but…”

“Try Mexico,” Anna mutters bitterly. “I hear he’s on a tortilla.”

Dean frowns. “Flatbread?” he shrugs, “I can try.” But there’s a hint of amusement which tells Castiel that he’s caught the joke. “Look, I know you don’t trust me…” Castiel snorts, “But things aren’t as bad as they seem. I… I can’t explain now, but I will… I promise.”

“Are you going to stop Lucifer?” Castiel asks him. “Sammael..?”

Dean vanishes without answering.

They get ambushed by Uriel and Zachariah later that week. Castiel spends some time in a hellish universe of a mock future before they pull him back.

“What do you want?” he asks, as Anna spits out blood. “What do you want with us?”

“You..?” Uriel laughs, “You’re bait.”

“For who..?” Castiel shivers.

“Certainly not me, I’m sure,” and once again an angel has turned up in time to save their asses, but this time it’s not Dean.”

“Sammael,” Zachariah sneers, but looks nervous. “Where is he?”

“Where is who?” Sam shrugs, stalking forwards, and for a moment Castiel wonder why he ever doubted the fallen angel, all puppy dog eyes and long limbs, and then he remembers that this is Lucifer, the devil (and Jo had called him a devil once, hadn’t she) squashed in a meat suit of his choosing).

“Michael,” Zachariah spits, “Where is he?”

Sam shrugs, “No idea. Why? You guys looking for him?” he whistles, “No wonder he’s hiding. So would I if you guys were looking for me.” A flash of silver by his side is a sword and the Uriel steps forwards angrily, “What?” he smiles, deceptively calm. “Going to threaten me?”

“You know where he is,” Uriel looks nervous. “What have you done to him? What lies have you used to deceive him Lucifer…?”

Castiel can see that he’s said the wrong thing. “My name,” Sam growls, “Is Sammael,” and he clicks his fingers, suddenly all anger and hate and with one sound Uriel is ripped apart into bloody chunks. “You never got over your demotion, did you?” he sighed, “And you?” he asks Zach, nonchalantly; “It’s been a while since I’ve smited anything…” the angel is gone before he can finish.

“You…” Anna steps backwards.

“Hey guys!” Sam relaxes, and suddenly he’s a giant puppy dog. “Have you seen…? Dean?” Castiel notices the almost stumble over his brother’s not-name.

“He’s looking for God,” Castiel ventures.

“Of course,” Sam sighs, hand to his head. “Right, well he didn’t exactly leave you guys protected…” and he steps forwards, pressing his palms to their chests. There is hot heat and then nothing.

“What did you do?” Anna looks scared.

“Sigils to hide you from angels,” Sam explains, “Mmm…” he hums for a moment, “Dean should have done it,” he says eventually, “But he was too busy with his little daddy hunt, and I would have done it sooner but I was too busy killing Lilith.”

“Killing… but she... you… Lucifer…” they can’t get the words out.

“It’s just a name,” Sam shakes his head, “And she’s still a whiny kid.”

“Well aren’t you fun at parties,” Anna mutters venomously.

It feels weird, trusting Sam so easily, especially considering what they know about him. But somehow he becomes their angel to call when things go south, such as when they run into War, and then when they run into Meg who is actually trying to take down Pestilence.

Then they run into a Trickster, and this time it’s Bobby who has to call an angel, and confused out of his mind the grizzled hunter ends  up calling both, with something along the lines of a ‘even if you are Lucifer, you’re friends to those two and they need your help and you well… Castiel is head over heels for you…’

“What do you want?” Anna asks Loki, glaring at him.

“You…” Loki laughs. “You’re bait.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Castiel shakes his head.

“Because everyone knows you’re up high in the books with Michael and Lucifer,” the Trickster shrugs, “And if we hurt you, they come running.”

“We don’t know Michael,” Castiel shakes his head. “And what do you want with them anyway? Why is everyone looking for Michael?”

“You don’t…” the Trickster laughs, “Wow, you really don’t know! So now all the players are out, Michael and Lucifer can finally dance the Havana! It’s their prize fight, and Heaven is looking for Michael to play, while Hell is waiting for Sammael to stop joking around with his horses and demons and to get to the point already! It’s our Apocalypse! End of the World! Michael and Lucifer’s big showdown, except they’re not around…” He spreads out his hands and shrugs.

Castiel glances at Anna, because it’s pretty clear from Sam that he’s not going to fight. He also has no idea about Michael. “Why does everyone keep thinking that we know Michael?” he asks, frowning.

The Trickster laughs, “He pulled you out of hell, didn’t he? That’s his grace burning your soul on your shoulder there, isn’t it?”

“So you’re just going to keep us here?” Anna interrupts, while Castiel gapes.

“Precisely..!”

“You know a lot about the angels,” Castiel tells him.

“I should,” the Pagan God scoffs, “They’re planning to destroy the world, doncha’ know?”

The Trickster seems just like Uriel and Zachariah, with a vested interest in finding the star players of the apocalypse, and although he can say with 40% confidence (it used to be 98% but he’s been thinking) that he doesn’t know Michael. Everyone seems to think he does. (He’s beginning to think they may be right.)

That’s when the Trickster proves to be right, when Bobby’s support shows up in a flutter of wings, and Dean moves straight for the shorter man with a look of righteous fury on his face. “How dare you?” he hisses, “How dare you show your face now?”

And there goes a tick for the ‘trickster is an angel theory’. Loki’s face just goes blank though as Dean shoves him against a wall, holding him there with one hand. Sam glances at the two of them. “Are you okay?” he asks them and they nod.

“Michael?” Gabriel gasps out. “M… _Michael_?” he seems in disbelief.

Dean snorts, dropping his in a pathetic heap on the ground as he stalks back to stand besides Sammael. “What are you doing, Gabriel?”

‘Gabriel’ pushes himself up from the floor, staring at the pair of them, “Michael?” he asks again, “Sammael?”

 _“Michael?”_ Cas hisses. “Your name is Michael?”

Sammael grins, as if this whole thing is one big joke. “We always get that reaction,” he explains to the siblings. “Being archangels.”

Michael. The archangel. He’d looked up angels with names beginning with ‘M’ after the third time Jophiel almost called Dean out, and had options from Metatron to Moreal. From Machidiel to Miniel. Never once had it actually occurred to him to go straight for the obvious.

Gabriel frowns and looks between Dean… Michael… and Anna and Cas. “They didn’t know?” he asks. “They didn’t even know your name?”

“Would it have made a difference?” Dean shrugs, “You didn’t answer the question Gabe. What are you doing now, after all this time?”

“You…” Gabriel glances between his brothers. “I thought you were fighting.”

Sam snorts, “Please don’t tell me you thought I was locked up too.”

“Is this a joke?” Castiel interrupts, “To you two… because first of all you tell us your names are Sam and Dean, and then it turns out you’re really Lucifer and Michael and that despite meaning to fight, you’re actually not and…”

“We’re looking for Father,” Dean tells him, and Sam sighs, “It was our plan,” Dean says “To try and find God. It just… it didn’t work.”

“To throw a mock apocalypse..! That was your plan? Well let me tell you, that is not how you get someone’s attention! You don’t have a temper tantrum and throw a party! You… you…” Castiel splutters, as loss for words.

“He’s got a point,” Gabriel points out helpfully, still on the floor.

“Says the kid who ran away from home to try and get someone to run after him,” Sam sneers at him, and Gabriel shuts up.

“And really,” Dean….Michael sighs, “Pagan, Gabriel, really?”

“Shut up,” Gabriel looks like a pouting kid.

“We never asked for the demons to start breaking the seals,” Sam admits, “Lilith and Azazel planned that amongst themselves. I’m not sure whether they knew I was out, or whether they just thought if the stage was set I’d finally step back up to the position.”

“But when I refused to lock him in Hell, and he was kicked out of Heaven, Sammy got a chance to experience Earth and kind of liked it.”

Gabriel pushes himself to his feet. “Since when do you refuse an order Michael? Daddy’s good little soldier…? His blunt instrument even now trying to call him home …”

“Raphael wants me to fight Lucifer,” Dean’s voice is curt. “Some of them are calling for paradise, and I don’t know how to explain to them that we don’t need paradise anymore.”

“Well this is pretty far from paradise,” Gabriel snorts.

“It’s not an inferno either though,” Sam says quietly, “And we’re going to keep it that way.”

“I…” Anna swallows reflexively when the three angels… the three _arch_ angels turn to look at her. “I like the sound of that. And I … I don’t know why you chose us, why you pulled my brother out of hell, but I’m grateful you did, and we’ll help with the horsemen and demons.”

“And those fallen Lilith let loose?” Gabriel challenges his brothers.

Sam’s eyes darken to a deep molten gold. “Beelzebub is mine,” he mutters, “Double crossing traitor…” Dean just raises one eyebrow and shrugs.

“We’ll get to them.”

It shouldn’t be that simple, to derail and apocalypse. But somehow it is. Jophiel sighs and shakes her head, watching Sam and Dean joke around about something, while Zachariah cowers in his corner, well and truly with his tail between his legs. It’s almost as if the two angels are part of their family now, and Castiel can’t imagine what life without Sam and Dean (who sometimes go by Lucifer or Michael) is like.

Then he doesn’t have to, because Gabriel turns up one day out of the blue (Bobby almost stabs him with a wooden stake).

“They’re gone.” He says. “Daddy didn’t show so they…” he swallows, seemingly unable to put it into words.

“They’re dead?” Anna looks alarmed, Castiel just bites his lip.

Gabriel shakes his head. “They’re still alive… just not angels any more. They… it’s possible for an angel to rip out their grace… to be reborn as a human child. They… the pair of them must have been conspiring about this for a while, because for a moment, the whole of creation cried out, and then moments later it sang and they were just…” he waves a hand about uselessly. “Gone.”

“So…” Castiel swallows the thick lump in his throat. “We’ll never see them again?”

“Oh I’m sure you will,” Gabriel shrugs reflexively. “Michael and Sammael always remember those in their favour. They’re just… taking a break to learn how to become better brothers again.” He shifts, pulling something from his pocket. “They wanted you to have this, to remember them by…” and he thrusts it at Castiel.

It’s a small golden circle on a black piece of string. Castiel takes it, looking at the bull’s head, some sort of deity from Egypt or Mesopotamia, if he remembers correctly. When he turns it, it catches the light and he can spot the sigils etched there into blank gold just for a moment, in some form of enochian. Then they are gone.

He frowns, squinting, as something soft brushes over his hand. Anna gasps, seeing it first, but as he stares he can see the pale shimmering as the light passes almost straight through the two feathers bound there. The feathers are made of air and light, but when you peer at them just right, you can see that one is a tawny golden bronze, while the other is a pale creamy grey-white. Castiel knows without asking that they belonged to Michael and Sammael respectively.

“That’s their grace,” Gabriel tells him, “Bound in that. Look after it, will you?” and after dropping that bombshell he snaps out of them, leaving the two siblings sitting quietly in the evening sun.

Years later, Castiel will see two small children, twins possibly, blonde and brown hair: dark and light, one with green eyes, and the other with hazel. He won’t think anything of it, and passes by, too late to hear John Winchester call his two young sons over.

“Dean! Sammy! Time for dinner!”

Slouching against a tree Gabriel chews on the end of a lollipop and stares wistfully at his brothers. This whole human dealio might actually be kind of worth it.

Nine months later Mary Winchester gives birth to a hazel eyed, blonde haired boy named Adam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this. As you can see, I added my own twist to the reverse verse with the Michael and Lucifer thing, but I love that concept, so of course it was going to make it in.  
> Thanks for reading!


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